Space Pirate Nightshade
by CynicalScribbler
Summary: Ex-Federation ace Nydia Lynn Valsan has spent the years after the One Year War as a pirate and mercenary, hired for proxy wars and any jobs available by the Federation and Zeon, who share a tense political space after the One Year War ended in a costly stalemate. With both economies struggling, the way is paved for old pilots and new to make their way. Strong language warning. AU.


Author's Notes: Hi folks, CS here. This is really my first foray into Gundam writing, and I'll admit that I was slightly nervous to do something canon-y, so I decided to give myself a little breathing room. Quite frankly, my knowledge of the Gundam Universe isn't always situated on the characters, and I think the anime itself shows their stories very well without a lot of embellishment. This was a bit of a challenging start for me to write, mostly because I feel that the story should tell itself through the actions of the characters and progression of the plot. One of the reasons I chose 0083 UC is because I like the period of technology there, and many of the mobile suit designs I favor are right around that era. I hope that the concept of AU isn't entirely uninteresting to people, but I wanted a wider playground for different character concepts and of course, mobile suit battles.

I really hope you guys enjoy it, and I'd love to hear feedback. Without further ado, off we go.

Siva Colony, 8th Bunch, Side 7, 0083

8:30 PM Earth Standard Time.

—

The Earth Sphere wasn't what it was supposed to be these days, but pissing your days away over a beer and wondering about what could have been was about as useful as a blind man trying to paint. When the entire world around you caved in, you dug yourself out and kept digging until you saw the light. Problem was, there were too many people digging and not nearly enough shovels. The Black Mammoth bar in Siva was just one of the many places that had an abundance of people who did nothing but dig until their hands bled, and when all went sideways, they came back here to drink. It was a depressing atmosphere, one that Nydia Valsan wasn't entirely fond of. She supposed she couldn't blame them either, the woman was digging like the rest of them…she just chose not to spend all of it drinking and killing.

"Interesting choice of a meeting, Mr…" She said, leaning back in her chair. At the ripe and tender age of thirty-two, Nydia Valsan carried herself with an air of experience and cold shouldered tact. Behind her baggy cargo pants and tanktop was a body honed by more battles than she wanted to really remember. Her finger ran along the rim of her beer as the man across from her lit a cigarette, and smiled as he took a long drag and exhaled. She really, really fucking _hated_ smelling the smoke…but this was business, and she could ignore it for the most part. She didn't like his smile one bit, it seemed far too friendly and way too much like a snake.

"Call me Mr. Z for now, my dear," he smiled, tapping the ashes into the tray. "I apologize if this isn't your cup of tea, I would have figured a rough and tumble woman liked you loved these kinds of places."

"And I figured you were the kind of person to sneeze into a silk handkerchief." Nydia said dryly. "You said you had a job, didn't you?" All suit and she assumed all business, but the man looked more at home here than he did in his expensive suit. Behind the glasses and hat, she assumed there was a handsome face. She didn't know if she wanted to look into the eyes of someone so comfortable in an element of misery. This place already depressed her enough, she didn't need to have nightmares from looking into a soulless psycho's eyes and regretting ever coming here. The entire thing was giving her a bad vibe, but work had been slow and desperation bred stupidity.

"Correction," he smiled. "My employer has a job, and a very lucrative one at that if you are willing. I figure an Ex-Federation Ace can handle something like this, Miss Nightshade." Well, that made things a little different, didn't it? She sat up a little at that, taking a small drink of her beer before grinning. Well, someone had done their homework, hadn't they? She didn't know if she should feel more comfortable or paranoid about the development. Either way, she was somewhat flattered as he grinned at her in return. "I apologize for letting the proverbial cat out of the bag, but my employer wants only the best…and we figured that you were the best we could find on such short notice."

"Alright," Nydia said dryly, leaning forward a little to rest her elbows on the table. "I'm interested, Mr. Z…what exactly is your employer looking for?" He offered her a polite smile before shifting a hand into her vest and slipping a picture over, she raised her eyebrow curiously but examined the photo. A mobile suit, clearly…one she was not intimately familiar with. But it looked pretty slick for a Zeon design, she spotted a multitude of verniers and a blue color scheme. She glanced up at Mr.Z, who was currently taking another drag of his cigarette. He smiled a little bit before tapping his fingers on the table.

"Loyalty isn't what it used to be, you understand?" he murmured. "Things like Zeon and Federation mean absolutely jack shit to people who crave money, patriotism in this day and age is a poor man's game, Miss Nightshade. This is a prototype unit that Zeonic Zimmad has been interested in manufacturing in limited numbers to certain…clientele." He smiled as Nydia leaned back in her seat, slipping the photo back over. "It's a beauty, isn't it? Built back in the days when it was easy to get a stupid, idealistic pilot into a cockpit and risk life and limb for the dream of Zeon. It's called the Kampher, deadly effective in the right hands…which is the current problem, it was stolen."

"By who?" Nydia asked curiously, brow raised. "Who'd be stupid enough to steal from Z&Z and think they could get away with it?"

"Ah, that is the problem," Mr. Z grinned faintly. "We know exactly who did it, and the issue is that we cannot do a thing about it…however, we do need the recovered mobile suit back in one piece, or as intact as possible. This is a very fast unit, and it's armor isn't very thick…but it's mostly built for fast hit and run assaults-" Nydia waved her hand a moment to stop him, and he arched a brow at her as she frowned. Something definitely wasn't right here, and clearly her his last statements were exactly it.

"Wait," she said. "You know who did it…but you can't do anything about it?" And just like that, Nydia felt a foreboding sense of dread. Of course, that was why the money was supposedly obnoxious.

"Ah, yes…that is the complicated part." Mr.Z sighed. "You see, the young man who stole the mobile suit is someone of…well, let's just say his well being is nearly as important as the suit, hm? It is imperative that you recover the suit and the pilot in as good of condition as possible. My employers are not the sort of people you want to fail, it is so hard to find good help, however…and you will be very handsomely compensated should you accept." Nydia's fingers tapped lightly against the table in annoyance, the problem was that she didn't have a lot of options if she didn't accept. 'Ace' pilots were hardly a confirmation of much skill in this day and age, and she didn't really enjoy using her old history to dig up work. Lines were too blurred, only the stupid and the desperate tried to play that angle and it would end up being their own little One Year War all over again. She didn't doubt that the man came from a legitimate employer or that the job didn't have some merit…

"…I see," The raven haired woman replied faintly, still…she had no choice. She wanted to have a choice, because this sounded like she'd be regretting it the moment she signed up. But when did that stop her again? It never did, maybe it should start working like that. But she could only do that if she had enough money to do it…which was routinely never. She tapped her forehead faintly in annoyance before looking at the smiling man, this had 'bad idea' written all over it. He chuckled at that, snubbing out his cigarette before rising up. "My people have already sent the coordinates to your ship." He said cheerfully.

"I hope this is the start of a beautiful partnership, Miss Nightshade." He said, adjusting his tie a moment before giving her a polite tilt of her head. Ever the charming, polite man…something about him really just made her skin crawl. His presence creeped her out, and she didn't quite understand how bad it was until he was finally starting to leave. She had the common courtesy to hide the disturbed shiver that trailed down her spine, rubbing her neck. What a creepy fuck…no wonder he had problems finding workers, he was like a vampire or something.

"Keep the money flowing, and it might just be, Mr. Z." She said to him in passing, stuffing her hands in her jacket pockets. Well, she had finally gotten work…so that was good, the harder part was explaining to her co-pilot and mechanic just what exactly they were doing, and for who. She wasn't stupid, Mr.Z didn't say because he didn't have to. Pointing out the obvious would have weakened her position considerably and probably killed any reputation she had, that man worked for Zeonic Zimmad and they weren't too happy that they had to find someone on the outside to get it. Her best guess to why? Chances are, the territory it was in was a dicey place for anything 'Zeon' related. Her own paranoia aside, she decided to call it a night and head back to her ship, the _Valkyrie. _It was hardly an impressive piece of ship, but with the stagnating economy and pressures to continue to make a show of military force for both sides…well, sacrifices happened. People deserted left and right simply because there wasn't enough to go around to support a full scale military after all the losses in morale. The first and second battles of Solomon took more out of the Federation than they wanted to admit.

Nydia paid for a taxi to take her to the south end of the colony, where the harbor was. She absently watched the city go by, the trip to the port was no longer than an hour or so. The cities in a colony were always situated around the artificial mountains., where cargo could be easily shipped around and spread into the rural areas in the center. The Earth Sphere was a place of freedom, if you were the right sort of person. Armies became paper tigers with impressive technology, but not enough people to support it. Wars were fought with words and mercenaries that were given mobile suits, space travel was a dangerous place, filled with pirates and sometimes the stray corrupt captain looking to further his own ends because the military wasn't as reliable as it used to be. Nydia often wondered what could have been different during the One Year War, that would have made things for the better. But this was the life of everyone now, like it or not.

The _Valkyrie_ was an old Columbus-class ship, one that was retrofitted-and something she was still paying off at this point- to support mobile suits in the loading bays. Well, mobile _suit_. She only actually outfitted one of the bays for a hanger, mostly because she didn't see much point when she was the only one on her ship that had a mobile suit in the first place. It was built mostly for transporting goods and little else, but ships large and small were being retrofitted. Space travel was once the realm of military and big business, now every idiot who could manage a favor or two with a mobile suit could get something. Spaceports were a little busier these days too, which meant higher pricing…which also meant that Nydia needed to leave very soon. Sometimes, she wondered if she could stomach herself still in the military…at least then she'd have a decent paycheck.

"Nydia!" Ah, the second of the dynamic duo. A man in a perpetually dirty jumpsuit that usually smelled of grease, spicy food and apple juice (when he could get it). He was a handsome guy, if she did say so herself. A fit, capable mechanic who enjoyed sleeveless t-shirts and came from somewhere in South America. Nydia wasn't quite sure, she grew up in Side 1 herself. But Teo was a darker skinned man with hair as dark as hers and wonderfully chocolate eyes that always seemed to settle in near annoyance for one thing or another. Honestly? She thought Teo was handling living from job to job a lot easier than she was. But she was used to a little better pay…some things were harder to adjust to than others.

"Did you get the information?" she sighed, his face settled into unsurprised…surprise. He should have known that it was something related to their assignment. So he scratched the back of his neck faintly, nodding a bit before looking at her.

"Yeah, I did…and I'm wondering what exactly we're doing with it?" he said, following Nydia into one of the open supply docks. They did odd jobs for money, but most of their big cash? Really, anything that Nydia could do. Any idiot could haul cargo from one spot to the next, but it took a mobile suit to do some heavy work…and sometimes, defend against pirates. She glanced at her mechanic friend with an easy grin, which only served to make him more wary. He really, _really_ didn't like it when Nydia had that look, that look usually meant more money for things they didn't have…and things that they couldn't afford.

"What do you mean?" she said innocently as they headed to the elevator in the back of the cargo bay, resting against the back. "It's just a simple-"

"Oh, don't even." Teo muttered. "Straight from Z&Z about a stolen pre-manufactured unit? Did you SEE the specs on that thing!? This was back when Zeon had some crazy shit going on for mobile suits, Nydia! And someone stole it!"

"Yeah, and?" Nydia sighed, hand running through her hair. "What do you want me to say here, Teo? To not take the job? We don't exactly have the money for that, and we still owe money on this pile. I get this thing in decent condition, with the pilot all safe and cozy and we get paid…not a bad gig, I didn't think. Besides, I got hired on name alone…what else can we do?" she asked Teo honestly, feeling the lurch of the elevator. That was also slightly in the budget, it kind of hung just a bit when it moved up…and went a little too fast going down. But it was safe! Reasonably.

"Nothing, I guess," Teo admitted. "But this thing has thin armor, and it's got verniers up to it's head, almost. How are you going to disable that so easy? And we've got to assume that the pilot isn't exactly an amateur."

"Maybe," Nydia reasoned as they stepped out of the elevator and onto the bridge. "They didn't exactly tell me who stole it, just that they were important…for all I know, it _is _an amateur. And if that's the case, the harder part might be stopping him from damaging my money-er, the suit." She sighed, taking the co-pilot's seat. Teo insisted, or maybe he just felt like he didn't have enough to do. He was a literal whirlwind around the ship as it is, and he took piloting it very personally. But, the more optimistic part? They had a job, that was good news…very good news. It was hard to stay negative with that kind of information!

"So!" Nydia smiled cheerfully. "Where are we headed?"

"Loum," Teo said after a moment, and there was hardly a quicker way to punch the smile right off her face. "Seems like the little thief really made a good getaway…which possibly means he had help, and-" Nydia sighed at that, waving her hand. Loum, that was a place she didn't want to remember. A lot of people didn't, but it looked like she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. She went where the money did.

"And it means that it's going to be more trouble than it's worth, and you really wish I would have thought this through before I took the job, right?" she said dryly, as her mechanic flicked an invisible speck off the joystick in obvious defeat. Had he really gotten so predictable?

"…Maybe, but I still think this is a valid complaint, Nydia," he frowned. "We might be walking into a big problem here, you know? And this ship isn't exactly filled with weapons."

"I get what you're saying, Teo," she assured. "But like I said earlier? We don't have the money to turn it down. We're just going to have to make the best of it. Now…are you done with the twenty questions? We need to get going, that money isn't going to cash itself, you know." She sighed, leaning back against her seat as Teo closed the cargo bay and began preparations for take-off. She could say whatever she wanted. He just had a very, very bad feeling about something like this, mobile suit manufacturers didn't hire mercenaries because they couldn't afford anyone else, something really fishy was going on…but unfortunately, Nydia was right. Work was slow lately, he slumped back in his chair with a sigh.

"Full speed to Loum, then."

Shoal Zone, Side 5.

9:30, PM Earth Standard Time.

He was an idiot. It was a mantra that he had repeated into his head over and over. He should have known better, but he didn't. He didn't know who else to blame but himself, either. But here Jonas Freimuth rested all the same, ferried into a corner of a Musai and contemplating what in the hell he was going to do to get out of this mess. Reality had hit him too hard, hard enough that it had taken a while for it to really sink in what had happened. In retrospect? He was a fool, nothing more and nothing less. Mobile Suit manufacturing was as much of profit as it was patriotism now. He should have known better, but…really; at this point? There wasn't a whole lot he could do about that. He had made a stupid mistake, and he had to fix it.

Looking around the small room, with only a cot, a light and a 'bathroom area'…he had no clue how he could do anything. He slid back against the wall with a rub of his face. His father was Zeon…through and through, never said a word to anyone about anything. But Jonas knew, it wasn't hard to find out. All of the projects, the late nights…when people were supposed to be advocating for peace, they were quieted and silently moved somewhere else. The mobile suits were a political game more than anything, and the Delaz Fleet had become more of a thorn in Zeon's side than they really wanted to admit. So, he decided…he'd fight the good fight. He'd enlist in the Home Defense force, which handled dealing with pirates, mercenaries. A space cop, he could do that. Pay his lip service to Zeon and nobody would be the wiser and his father would be happy. He even encouraged Jonas to enlist, to take part in the first few units of Kampher for the Home Defense force.

He was surprised he had made it on, but he was proud all the same. He had thought his father had finally started to respect him as a person…or maybe he was just trying to hard to have him show some attention for once in his life. It was so easy, just…hook, line and sinker. The patrol wasn't in any particular section of space, just one that had a Delaz ship in. Before he had known what was happening, his mobile suit was disabled and dragged on-board. Eventually, the door slid open and Jonas glanced up at the man who came in. Older, probably around his father's age with a graying beard and a stern set of eyes. He knew him, he knew him because he had seen him before around his father's house. Ian Van Gavern, once a member of the Zeon Attack Space Force under the Delaz fleet…now they were just a bunch of warmongering terrorists. Throwing their weapons at the Federation and Zeon alike, they were the worst kind of people in the Earth Sphere…and they represented the monsters of Zeon at their finest. The ones who fled at the death of Giheren Zabi after being executed for the crime of patricide. Now, they believed he was their true leader, and they were the real ideal of Zeon.

"It's been a while, Jonas." Ian replied casually. "Last time I saw you, you had just graduated from the Academy, how was your father been?"

"You'd know better than I would." Jonas replied disdainfully, his blue eyes narrowed. "You probably talk to him more than I do."

"Don't be like that," Ian sighed. "Your father made you do this for a reason, Jonas…to see the truth."

"The truth in what, Ian?" Jonas replied dryly. "That you've spit on everything you earned because some nutjob-" Got what he deserved, was what he would have said if Ian hadn't punched him across the face. Jonas grunted faintly in surprise, shaking his head as his cheek throbbed faintly in pain. Well, he should have expected that…most people who thought a man who killed his own father for wanting peace was an amazing person, usually weren't the most clear headed, or they were already messed up in the first place. He was starting to hate his reality check a little more.

"I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand," Ian replied smoothly. "That is what your father and I had hopes that you would soon see what Giheren Zabi's dream truly was. You have a natural talent with mobile suits, boy. And it's a waste under that false Zeon. Your father wants what is best for you, which is a true Zeon. That is why you were brought here, don't you understand? What you have given us is another weapon and another chance to show everyone that the time is still ripe. This is your last chance…prove your father had made the right choice. Help us! You know everything we need to make Side 3 pure again!"

"Kiss my dick, how about that?" Jonas muttered. "You can coat your crazy terrorism however you want it, Ian. But you're still a terrorist. You might as well just shoot me and get it over with now, otherwise I'm going to get out of here and find a way to have you tried for your crimes-" Ian laughed loudly at that, catching Jonas slightly off guard…especially when Ian's laughing stopped and a pistol was pressed against his forehead. Jonas blinked somewhat in surprise, glancing up at Ian's face. It was serious, stern…and Jonas wasn't ashamed to admit he felt a tendril of fear trail up his spine.

"You've lived a good life, Jonas," Ian said smoothly. "Always had your father to keep an eye on you, and now you're out in the big bad world…and what do you do? You blunder right into an obvious trap. You've done your part…now if you want to be a good little boy and crawl on back to your ignorant little paradise…fuck off." He said, tapping the weapon against Jonas's temple. "You're nothing special, kid. Your father is the special one. You want to play that hero? Fine, you know what happens to heroes out here? They get killed…if you want to play that game…" he said, his finger squeezing on the trigger. Jonas's eyes widened a fraction and that was all Ian needed to pull back and holster his gun with a disdainful snort. Jonas didn't know he was holding a breath until the gun was gone from his face.

"Pathetic," Ian muttered. "You've got no conviction, Jonas. You sit there and bark at us until we show our teeth, and then you cower. Perhaps it's a good thing that your father isn't here to see it, he'd be as disappointed as I am." He said, turning to leave as Jonas slumped against the wall, swallowing tightly. He barely heard the door close, and it took him a moment for the fear to stop overwhelming him. His hands were shaking, and the entire concept of being afraid seemed to be a bittersweet joke. He could pilot a mobile suit…but the moment someone drew a gun on him, he panicked? He didn't know what hurt worse, the fact that Ian was practically right…or the fact that he had done nothing but spout out bullshit without any way to prove it.

He _would_ prove it, but…right now? All he could do was feel miserable about himself, and wait…for what, he didn't know. But he would, they'd do something with him eventually…he just hoped getting shot wasn't one of them.

—

Nydia didn't like how quiet it was, but that was the Shoal Zone for you. Even in the silence of space, it just…felt different. It was hard not to remember what had happened here, when she was young and fresh…the screaming, the explosions…the gunfire. She remembered the first time she laid her eyes on a Zaku, it felt like she had stared at the mouth of hell itself. They were so fast and so deadly, it was a wonder anyone survived at all. Not that many did…but some still had the scars of those days, and she wondered if their days were still being numbered. How much of a sick joke was it, that after all of that fighting, all of that death…it was just a treaty so they could build up their military and do it all over again? It was a disgusting outcome, and probably the honest reason why she had no interest in living the life of a military woman anymore.

"Nydia?" Teo asked curiously, she was slumped back in the chair…just staring out into the debris laden darkness. Her expression was distant, her eyes barely flickering in recognition. "Hey, Nydia?" he repeated stronger, and her eyes seemed to snap back to reality as she glanced at the concerned face of her partner and shook her head, sitting up a little.

"…Sorry, what?" she mumbled. "Are we near the last known coordinates?"

"Getting there," Teo assured. "You okay? You kinda…spaced out on me there." 'Spaced out' was a fine term for remembering something far too vividly…but she shook her head regardless.

"…Fine," she said after a moment of thought. "…Sometimes memories don't wait for me to stop them, Partner."

"…Oh," he said quietly, watching the radar a moment. "…Bad?" He never really took part in the war, to be honest. They had enough troubles when they were on Earth during it anyway, he just kept his head down and did what he could away from combat. He lived in a rough enough area to sympathize…but that was about it.

"Very bad," Nydia said. "Forget about it, okay? I'm here, let's focus." The last thing she needed was to get all emotional and deep on a job, she'd just buy a bottle of whiskey and forget about it with a hangover.

"…Right." Teo murmured, glancing up when they reached the designated coordinates. Nydia bit her lip in thought, and Teo grimaced in distaste. Three destroyed Geloogs, plus some F2 frames….she had a sneaking suspicion about what was going on here…but only vaguely. The black and white colors of the Gelgoog made her think of Home Defense forces…what in the hell were they doing out here? It made their job just a tiny bit harder, to say the least as they moved deeper into the Shoal Zone. Fresh corpses for the graveyard…wonderful.

"Well, it seems that the secret is out…looks like they didn't go down without a fight, though." Nydia mused, fingers drumming on the console in thought. For now, she couldn't worry about why they were out here…she was more concerned about where in the hell their mobile suit was. Ugh, all of this just gave her a bad taste in her mouth, of course it wouldn't be so easy.

"Why would Gelgoogs be fighting F2s?" Teo muttered. "Those are Zeon colors, aren't they?"

"Old Zeon colors," Nydia clarified. "Which means Gihren Loyalists…ugh, terrific. Explains why the Home Defense force is around, they take that kind of crap personally. Guess they were tailing someone, or something…" she mused, glancing to the radar when a warning blip echoed in the cockpit.

"We got a ship…about four hundred meters ahead," Teo said, tapping the screen a bit in thought. "The silhouette…looks like a Musai-class…guess we found out what happened."

"Great," Nydia muttered. "…Well, a job is a job, I'll get my GM prepped. We did get the Bazooka last time, right?" she said, rising out of her seat.

"What?" Teo muttered. "Nydia, are you insane? We have no idea who or what is on that ship! What if it doesn't even have what we're looking for?" he said, glancing back at her. Not to mention that she was one mobile suit against a ship full of them! Numbers did matter, no matter how fancy of a pilot you were!

"Then we just wiped out a bunch of genocidal psychopaths and the Earth Sphere is missing a few hundred assholes." She replied casually. "It'll be fine, Teo. When am I not fine?" she said cheerfully, stepping inside the elevator.

"Do you want me to answer that question?" Teo muttered dryly. Not that she had a chance to answer as Nydia simply grinned when the doors shut. He slumped back with a weary sigh, rubbing his face desperately. He really…_really _needed to get a partner who _didn__'t_ have a death wish. He supposed that wasn't fair to Nydia, or…really anyone who was a veteran of the One Year War. It was supposed to be that the good guys won and the bad guys died, but things didn't work out like that. Now the Earth Sphere was a crowded political place, where nobody wanted part in it…but everyone suffered because of it. But then, if there was no suffering…there was no work, and Teo would be still starving somewhere without Nydia. "…Just hope you're careful, Nydia." Teo muttered. He couldn't exactly do crap all from here except make sure the ship was in one piece.

The only thing Nydia had that was a remnant of her time in the One Year War was her GM Command. She had served with distinction, and so got a mobile suit that showed that level of trust…without it? She didn't know if she would have survived the Battles of Solomon and A Boa Qu. It was her friend, her confidant…she would sit in the cockpit and find a true sense of serenity. It suffered like she did those years ago, she could repair the suit all she wanted…paint it any colors she pleased. But in the end? She always saw that scarred, battle worn mobile suit at the end of the war that had kept her breathing. Now? It was a black suit, with purple hip and shoulder armor and fuchsia trim. It was a bitch and a half to find someone to get the tinted red glass for her cameras…but she enjoyed it all the same for the look it gave.

Dressed in her pilot suit, she fit her helmet on and floated up to her cockpit, opening the hatch. It wasn't exactly a Federation method, but it was good enough for them as she slipped inside and let the hatch close.

"You hear me, Teo?" Nydia confirmed as she fired up her mobile suit, the cameras flicking to life as the console lit up. Ah, there was that wonderful white noise…the only thing she could hear was the faint hum of her mobile suit at the occasional blip from her console. It was a peaceful, serene few seconds before Teo's voice came to life:

_-I really wish you__'d think this through, Nydia…this could get really bad- _He always worried, then again…she supposed Nydia couldn't blame him, he had no way of really helping other than moral support. But it was always nice to hear a voice that actually wanted her to come back, alive and well.

"Being poor is really bad when we still owe money, Partner," Nydia sighed, settling her fingers on the joysticks as her HUD flared to life. She already had her machine pistols on the hips of her GM, so she headed over to make sure the Hyper Bazooka was ready and loaded it, setting an extra magazine on the waist rack for now. If she needed more than that, she'd have a problem. She adjusted her helmet one last time, and moved her GM forward towards the hatch. "I'm ready to go, Teo…open the hatch."

-_Copy that__…and be careful, alright?_- Teo mumbled in concern as the hatch opened up to the darkness of space, and the glittering debris of the Shoal Zone. She leaned her GM forward and gave it a bit of thrust to send it off the ship, it was beautiful out here in the same way a graveyard always seemed peaceful and serene. A fight amongst corpses seemed disrespectful, but what did they do that was respectful to anything anymore? She needed to stop thinking about it, with a faint breath she headed deeper into the Shoal Zone. This place served her needs just fine. She'd have lots of sporadic cover for attacks, assuming she wouldn't get herself killed in the process…but really, screw it. The worst thing that could happen was again, a bunch of dead Zeeks. The world would weep. But regardless, she had a fairly decent hunch that they were the reason a bunch of Home Defense Gelgoogs were scrapped. It was a valid enough excuse for her, at any rate.

She couldn't hide forever, she had to be coming into their radar range soon enough. She rammed the throttle for all it had, sinking back into her seat as she primed her Bazooka, took aim…and fired.

—

The entire ship rocked horribly as the lights dimmed for a moment, Jonas grabbed onto the side in shock as he moved to the door. Sirens were wailing, power flickered for a moment. People were running into battle stations, and he was…stuck here, still. He glanced around him, from what he could see…there was only a single guard. He pressed his hands against the door, almost forcing it open. He frowned deeply in annoyance, ramming his shoulder against it to no avail.

"Hey," he said to the guard. "What the hell is going on?!"

"Shut up and stay quiet!" he growled in warning as the entire ship rocked again, and soon…the sounds of the ship defenses rumbling against the hull started to vibrate against Jonas' ears. Whatever it was…he damn well hoped that it tore this stupid ship in half.

"Status report!" Ian barked as he stepped out of the elevator and onto the bridge. "What happened!?" The men jumped at his booming voice before one of the operators glanced at him, concern and worry creasing his face. They were supposed to be safe out here, how in the hell did anyone find them!?

"We lost one of the mega particle cannons!" he said. "We've confirmed a mobile suit, but it's hard to maintain a visual! It's moving pretty fast!" he said, his words punctuated by the occasional rumble of an explosion. "Hull integrity is decreasing!"

"Send out the Zaku!" he ordered tightly. "Squads A and B! We cannot afford to be stopped now!" Ian doubted heavily that it was more Home Defense Units, they had risked enough coming out here in secret to test the Kampher's capabilities in the Shoal Zone. Which meant either a stupid pirate, or a mercenary. He supposed most of the time, they were one and the same. Honorless dogs who had bit the leash that held them, nobody would miss them. Ian growled faintly in annoyance as another explosion rocked the ship, the lights flickering heavier before the entire ship lurched faintly to the left.

"The enemy mobile suit just took out one of our engines!" The operator said. "We're operating at fifty percent!"

"Dammit!" Ian snarled. "Can't we find them!?"

"There's too much debris, sir! It's hard for the sensors to pick anything up!" Whoever this was, they were clever…they'd spend more time trying to find their target than fighting them. No matter.

"Then manually search!" he ordered. "Give our teams eyes to see the enemy! I want both teams to be cautious until they have a confirmed visual of the mobile suit!" Ian gritted his teeth as he settled back into his Captain's chair, eyes narrowed in thought. Who in the world would know of them being here? Or was he merely over thinking it? He supposed, in the grand scheme of things…he would find out once they dealt with the problem. He glanced to the operator when he turned around on his seat, hand on his headset a moment.

"Sir, the squads have been deployed." He said, and almost on cue; six lights appeared in front of the Musai and spread out.

"Good," he grunted. "Focus all of our power on essential systems until the threat is dealt with. Get engineers to the engine rooms immediately, keep the mega-particle cannons prepped and ready." The emergency lighting flicked on, casting the ship into a shade of red as their operators began a fevered relay of information with the deployed pilots. Hopefully, it would be enough.

This was her playground, honestly. With so much cover from the debris, she could dance around the ship as she pleased if she was careful. But it looked like they had wiped out that Home Defense squad without a scratch, two full squads of mobile suits were looking for her now? She felt wonderfully popular. She carefully pressed the hand of her GM against a floating debris and used it for cover…she couldn't exactly disable the ship entirely until she knew what they had, but she had no bargaining chip until the suits were gone. Presently, she was floating above the Musai, and could see the mobile suits dart off in every direction. It was a tricky proposition, but these people were definitely Delaz Fleet. They were sticking together, maintaining as much visual coverage as possible…whatever her first move would be, she'd be exposed.

She shifted her hands faintly, checking her HUD. She had just reloaded her Hyper Bazooka, which gave her six shots to do some serious damage. Six shots, six mobile suits…yeah, like she could get that fucking lucky. She swallowed faintly and leaned her mobile suit gently to the side to drift with the debris. There was one F2 in front of her, facing the side. The mono-eye was constantly looking…and she knew that where that one went down, they'd be on her position in a hot minute with gunfire. She licked her lips a moment, settled her finger on the trigger as the reticle flashed red, and fired. The moment the round slammed into the side, she felt the shockwaves and the wailing of her radar. Nydia grit her teeth and slammed on the thrusters, launching low as machine gun fire scattered downward. She moved quickly, underneath the Musai. Three behind her…so the other three…front.

She slammed on her brakes and shot right, Bazooka raised as she fired and the Zaku barely had time to react as it caught him on the arm and exploded, exposing the joint and side of the cockpit, showering the pilot in shrapnel. The squad behind her opened fire again, and she spun around and thrust back wards, firing again to send them scattering before she moved up the side of the Musai, darting across the bridge screens. Unless they were stupid, they wouldn't risk their own ship to kill her, would they? She was heading down to the last functioning engine, but Squad-A was there first. Three shots left, she fired at the engine and shot off to the side, moving toward the disabled engine and shooting into the debris above the ship. They followed after, and she moved behind a destroyed chunk of a salamis with some help from her shoulder vernier. It was a second of respite, but enough as the remaining Zaku's opened fire and followed her into the Shoal Zone.

Hook, Line and Sinker. It was time to hunt.

—

When the second engine was hit, Jonas saw the red lights dim and flicker…and his eyes darted to the door that now lacked power, he felt a weightlessness begin to build up as he floated a few feet before he lurched towards the door. He fumbled with the front of it quickly, finding the emergency lever to retract out and yank back with a faint grunt. Come on…come on! It hissed back smoothly, and the guard reacted fairly well considering the entire ship had rumbled again in warning. Jonas had no choice but to tackle the man against the wall, his fist slamming across his face before he grabbed his head and slammed it back as he crumpled with a pained grunt. He did it…he was out, but from the looks of it? He needed to get out much faster. He fumbled through the guard's belt, taking his pistol and the two magazines to stuff into his pocket, checking the chamber of the USP before glancing around and heading off. He was somewhat grateful that the Principality still used Musai models like this, because otherwise he would have been lost. Getting around on auxiliary power was thankfully somewhat easy, considering that much of the gravity in the lower levels had been disabled.

He wasn't going to test his luck on this ship any longer, it felt like it was suffering enough and he needed to get out of it. Making his way to the hanger was a game of cat and mouse, he didn't know if they knew he was free…but he didn't want to be seen to find out. Thankfully, the red lights made it somewhat easier to move through the hallways until he finally reached the hanger. It was empty…except for a skeleton crew tending to the Kampher, he wasn't quite sure what they were doing…but it was intact, and looked like they were topping off it's fuel. It still had it's weapons…well, maybe this would be a bit easier than he hoped?

He took a deep breath and floated towards one of the walkways, grabbing the railing as he carefully moved along. He settled his feet on the railing when he hopped up, and pushed himself off and towards the Kampher. The cockpit hatch was open, were they scanning it? Checking it's internals? Were they planning to manufacture them? He supposed he could figure that out when he got to Side 3.

"Get away from the cockpit!" Jonas growled in warning as the mechanic glanced back in shock, immediately floating away.

"Call the Captain!" The mechanic shouted. "Now!" Jonas landed on the cockpit hatch, yanking away the cables and wires and closing the hatch. He didn't have time for any of this, he needed to get out immediately! He flicked the activation switches on the console, the camera's flaring to life as the Kampher's mono-eye activated with a bright red glow as it swirled around. It had planned to be a full scale weapons and maneuvering test…and it would have, if he hadn't been such a damned idiot…ugh, he couldn't think about that now, no matter how much he hated himself over it. He carefully moved the Kampher off the launch catapult, moving towards the closed launch bay hatch.

_Open the hatch, or I blow it open!_ He warned only once to the Mechanics. There was a pause, then then Kampher rose up his shotgun and racked it, the sound echoing dangerously in the hanger. Fine. He gave them a chance, he rose up the weapon and fired. The metal buckled, he racked the shotgun and fired again, puncturing holes into the heavy door, and another gave him a space for his suit to grab and tug open as the vaccum of space began to suck items out. Jonas could faintly hear tools clanging and banging against the Kampher's frame. He wished he had sympathy for them. He leaned outward into space, and his thrusters ignited.  
—

Ian's brows furrowed with confusion when he heard the thunderous rumble of…something on his ship, he glanced to one of the Operators, who spun around with wide, panicked eyes. "Sir! We have a breach in the ship! The hatch in the hanger is open! It won't respond to remote controls!"

"What!? That's impossible! All of our squads are deployed! The only thing left is the K-…" Oh _no. _Ian's eyes widened, leaning back in his seat when the blue mobile suit appeared in front of his bridge screen, the red eye glowing menacingly. Sweat creased Ian's forehead when the Kampher leaned closer…and let loose with his vulcans. Sixty millimeter rounds tore into the bridge with ease, shattering through the windows and blowing disintegrating the Operators. For a split second, when the shrapnel had slammed into his body and he went tumbling into the air as the vulcan fire shredded his body to nothing, Ian Van Gavern had a faint recollection of seeing Jonas as a boy, staring up at Zaku's and wanting to be just like them. What a world it had turned into.

Eventually, his vulcan fire stopped…and Jonas pushed away from the bridge as he checked his radar, and glanced up to the debris above them. Gunfire and the occasional burst of thrust could be seen, and Ian made his way up. He supposed the real test of his skills was going to begin very shortly, he had only done the very basic maneuvering with the light and speedy Kampher. Whoever they were fighting, Jonas owed them his life. He would return the favor the best way he could.

—

One shot left, after her opening ambush was shattered with blowing off a Zaku's shoulder and little else. Nydia had speed and maneuverability, but they had numbers and firepower. If it wasn't for the debris, she probably wouldn't have lasted this long. She knew what they were doing, and it was damn clever of them, if a basic tactic. One squad was chasing her to get into a favorable position for the second group to open fire on her, but the debris made that somewhat complicated for both them and her to get into a position either of them wanted, she couldn't run forever. She stopped her thrust when a Zaku rose up from the wreckage of a vessel and she fired. He veered to the side as the debris he was hiding behind shattered.

_Dammit! _

She launched her GM up after him, rolling her joystick to let her mobile suit's free hand grab one of her machine pistols and open fire. Seventy-five millimeter holes tore into the cockpit of the Zaku in a rapid burst as it began to lazily roll, disabled…and the pilot most likely dead. It was one problem fixed, but another came up behind her and she barely spun around in time, only to have the suit recoil back with a thunderous rumble. Nydia blinked in surprise, noticing the impact marks on the chest as it jerked back again from a second shot, and the mobile suit simply floated, the mono-eye shutting off. What in the hell?

She glanced to her radar, but she didn't need to, her camera screens picked it up. The Kampher? She leveled her weapon at him carefully, if only because the pilot hadn't lowered his. There was a faint bit of static, before she sighed and flicked on the communications transmission. "Guess I owe you one," Nydia said faintly. "Good thing for you, I came out here to find you and that pretty little suit you got."

_-You did?-_ Jonas remarked in surprise. He sounded young, but for the most part…he seemed to have a decent idea on how to pilot that damn thing. Cooperative was better than nothing at this point, right now they still had a couple of mobile suits left. _-I owe you for letting me escape, whoever you are.-_ Nydia slid the Bazooka to the rack on the waist of her GM and retrieved her second pistol. She grinned a little, not that he could see it.

"Tell you what, kid…you help me get rid of these two suits and head on back to my ship with me? We'll call it even, and we can go from there." Jonas didn't have much of a choice, did he? He couldn't get anywhere on his own, he had no food, no water…not even a pilot suit. He had to hope that the intentions of this woman were honest, and that kind of made him snort a little to think of. She was probably a mercenary, judging by her GM and the unique color scheme…which meant her loyalty was probably as good as the pay she was getting.

-_…I'll trust you, for now.-_ He replied back warily. Well, at least he wasn't an idiot, that worked for her. There were still two Zaku left, and an animal was it's most dangerous when cornered.

"Good," Nydia said cheerfully. "There's still two of them out there, divide and conquer. You sure you know how to pilot that thing?"

-_…Not really,_- He admitted, perhaps a little sheepishly. -_I__'m familiar with how it works, though. I'm one of the test pilots for the Home Defense Force-_

"It's always the test pilots," Nydia said dryly. "Alright then, spread out…don't go any farther than thirty meters from my position, copy?"

_-Got it.-_ Jonas said, following after the older, obviously more experienced woman. He was more than a little jealous of how she seemed to be so calm and collected at a time like this, he was scared out of his fucking mind about this place. The Shoal Zone was just aiding to his paranoia, and he was more than a little comforted by the fact that she was nearby. But he knew this, he knew the suit at least. He knew the problems it had, and the strengths…he just had to remember his training and stay focused. But damn, the cockpit felt so claustrophobic, just having only the hum of the mobile suit to give him noise. Why was it so quiet? What were they waiting for?

-_Hey,-_ Nydia said after a moment of pause, breaking him out of his anxious reverie. _-Don__'t freak out on me, kid. You'll do fine, take a deep breath and keep your eyes to your cameras. That suit of yours has enough giddy-up to move when you need it to, have some faith in yourself.- _It was strange to hear her be so…comforting, even if the tone was more stern than anything else. It reminded him of his drill instructor, back in the training suits. He exhaled carefully, his eyes settling to his cameras.

"Yeah…I'm good, thanks." He murmured, his mono-eye swiveling around before he saw it. A flicker of green, he got antsy…but he had found one. Something to direct his anxiety and nerves to, so he gunned it. He almost forgot just how much speed the Kampher had, launching through the debris like a rocket as it clanked and banged against his armor. Nydia blinked in surprise and shot off after him, oh, god _dammit!_ He was tearing the suit up! That'd come out of her pay! But more importantly…

_-You fucking idiot!-_ Nydia cursed, and Jonas blinked in surprise at that. He hadn't seen much wrong with what he had done, he was closing in on one of their targets and-…shit. Shit, shit, shit. He saw it, he saw it and he almost had his fear lock up when the second Zaku, with the blown out shoulder appeared from the burnt wreckage of the colony. He had never really understood just how terrifying those mono-eyes were until you were looking at one. He didn't know what stopped him from dying, but his hands moved of their own accord and the Kampher jerked firmly to the right in a brilliant flash of blue exhaust as machine gun fire sailed past. He thought he was safe, but the other mobile suit had turned around and headed straight for him. Nydia opened fire on the broken shoulder Zaku, her twin machine pistols blazing as he backpedaled and thrust back, moving higher into the debris.

-_Don__'t just stand there you idiot!-_ Nydia said, and Jonas immediately rose up his shotgun to fire, racking the slide as the Zaku pilot ducked under debris and his shotgun blast sent worn scrap scattering. Jesus, how were Zaku so fast!? No, that wasn't it…he was so nervous that he couldn't focus. Jonas grit his teeth and moved right, opening fire with his shotgun again as the Zaku jerked, pellets slamming into his right thigh. He thought it was a solid hit, but that was until he saw the suit reach back and hurl something out. It was hard to figure out just what the hell it was, but the moment he did, the verniers in his chest activated.

_Cracker Grenade!_

The grenade's shock-wave rocked Jonas against his seat, panic taking over as he slammed into a piece of debris and went tumbling, his hands quick on the joysticks as he attempted to use the verniers to right himself. Shit, shit, shit! His radar was wailing, he was coming in fast and he could already feel the vibrations of the gunfire off the chunk of colony he had hit. He shouldn't have activated his vernier, he had spent too much time trying to stabilize. But he had no choice but to take off, shooting forward as he spun his suit around, all he saw was a blur of green turn towards him, and he fired. The Zaku's head crumpled immediately and he fired again when he finally stopped, the mobile suit lurching backwards as the backpack exploded and slammed into a floating chunk of Salamis. Jonas simply drifted for a moment, panting heavily as his mobile suit began to feed fresh shells into his smoking shotgun.

He…he did it.

-_You still breathing, kid?-_ Nydia's voice broke through his frantic panting, and he turned to see her pitted and worn GM Command settle the smoking pistols on it's thighs.

"Vaguely," Jonas joked dryly. "…Thanks for the hand back there, again."

_-No sweat!- _She grinned, giving him a thumbs up. _-Now, you__'re coming with me, right? Someone paid a lot of money to have you and that mobile suit, safe and sound…but more importantly, I need a hand.-_

"For what?" Jonas asked curiously, before her GM stuck her thumb back and Jonas focused his camera's behind her. The Zaku she disabled…?

_-You think I make money off of doing this alone? These suits are in good condition! I__'ll make a mint selling them!- _Nydia replied gleefully as Jonas blinked in surprise. _-The Gelgoog__'s we found earlier are going to go for a good price too.-_

"You're a scavenger, then," Jonas muttered. "Unbelievable…and I can't go anywhere if we don't speed up you robbing corpses, right?"

-_You got it,- _she replied casually. _-Spare me your moralistic crap, kid. Or are you going to explain to me why the bridge of the Musai is in shreds?- _Oh, she saw it…she saw it because the suit she was chasing was heading back to the ship, probably to figure out why they weren't getting any contact back. They found out why.

"…That was different," Jonas muttered. "Those people are terrorists-"

-_And the dead bodies in these suits are terrorists, so all we need to do is toss out the bodies and sell the mobile suit for parts, or maybe use it ourselves__…who knows? You can slice it all you want, kid…but we killed a lot of people here, who cares if we sell the suits they died in? I sure as hell don't, now are you going to help me, or not?- _Nydia shrugged. He had no choice, honestly…even if he didn't like it. He wasn't some mercenary, he was a Home Defense solider! This wasn't what he did!

"Terrific," Nydia grinned, watching as Jonas grabbed the leg of the Zaku he disabled and tugged it along. "Teo! We're all clear here! Come on in!"

_-It__'s about time…that radio chatter was freaking me out, Nydia.- _Jonas blinked faintly, his Kampher's eye focusing on the old Columbus class ship. It looked like a pile of crap, to be honest. He supposed it made a bit more sense about how they had to scrap suits for money now, didn't it? You probably never worried about a mobile suit until you had to pay for everything personally. It sounded like a shitty way to live. The hatches opened up, and Jonas floated through. What a day…what the hell had he gotten himself into?

_-Hey, kid__…help Teo strap down the suits when I bring them to you, got it?-_

"Yeah, yeah…" Jonas grumbled, this was a pre-manufactured, high speed interceptor mobile suit and he was using it for strapping down junker suits? Was there any justice about this?

-_And you must be our target,- _Teo said cheerfully, floating into the hanger in a space suit. _-Welcome to the Valkyrie, my friend.-_

Welcome to Hell and a headache, more like.

-

Authors Notes: And there we are! Nydia is introduced, as well as her paranoid sidekick Teo, and the plucky little Home Defense Officer from Side 3. For a few little background notes that are relevant to this story: Due to the fact that Project V went without a hitch, such a skilled pilot like Amuro, the Gundam was far less of a thorn and didn't give the Federation as much of a distraction as the original anime presents. As such, when the Battle for Solomon occurred, the Big Zam was a far greater threat without the suicidal run of Sleggar Law to disable the I-Field. The resulting battle resulted in a retreat of Federation forces, and only the Second Battle that exhausted both Zeon and Federation proved to push them onto A Bao Qu.

After that, it pretty much continued as normal. I've yet to think of a truly solid reason why Zeon properly exists, but my main frame of thought is that Char was outed as a renegade when Garma Zabi survives a sabotage in New York. I'm not going for incredibly clear realism in terms of plot continuity, but I do enjoy valid reasons. Anyway, I yakked enough. I hope you enjoyed it, and I'd love to hear back from you guys!


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